The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common

The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common We are dedicated to supporting, preserving, enhancing and interpreting Fort York National Historic Site in Toronto, Canada.

The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common is a not-for-profit organization with charitable status, founded in 1995, and supported by memberships, donations, grants and generous volunteers. We exist primarily to support Fort York National Historic Site in downtown Toronto and advocate its best interests. We are committed to the well-being of our neighbourhood too. What We Do:

In the mid-1990s, we were instrumental in shaping the plan adopted by City Council that defined what became Fort York Boulevard and added several acres of open space to the fort's precinct. Since then, we have expanded our role to support programming at Fort York. Convinced of the need to rebuild an active military presence at the fort which had been a casualty of budget cuts in the early 1990s we took over responsibility for the Fort York Guard from the City in 1999, and founded the Fife and Drum Corps the following year. Not only do we recruit, train and outfit annually the 20 to 25 young men and women who make up these squads, but we also cover their wages. In the realm of city planning we have advocated safe, open connections under the Bathurst Street bridge when it is rebuilt, and strongly supported the City's position in urging Metrolinx to lower the Georgetown rail corridor at Strachan Avenue. We successfully opposed plans to elevate the Front Street extension on columns, like the Gardiner. We lost the case we took to the OMB to prevent changes in the Official Plan to allow taller buildings south of the fort. Our Precinct Advisory Committee meets regularly to keep abreast of current planning issues in the Fort York precinct. We publish a quarterly electronic newletter The Fife and Drum, which reaches a readership of about 2500. We support the efforts of the staff through exhibits, programs, live interpreters, and historic settings to encourage a new level of understanding about the War of 1812 era and Fort York's role in the founding of the Town of York in 1793 and the development of the City of Toronto since that time. Membership:

With membership comes free entry to the fort, a discount on items purchased at the gift shop, and our publication, The Fife and Drum, a quarterly newsletter. Joining The Friends is as easy as completing and submitting a membership form or joining us online: www.fortyork.ca

Author-historian Tyler Wentzell's recent research focusses on William Krehm and the anti-fascist movement he led in Cana...
10/02/2026

Author-historian Tyler Wentzell's recent research focusses on William Krehm and the anti-fascist movement he led in Canada during the 1930s. Tyler is a former director of The Friends of Fort York. He holds the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel as the commanding officer of the 48th Highlanders of Canada. For more about Tyler: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/author/tyler-wentzell

Photo: Activist William Krehm leading an anti-fascist rally outside Massey Hall, 1938. (English Wikipedia in the public domain.)

FORT YORK in Toronto is a relic of the defence of Canada during the War of 1812. But the defence of the U.S.-Canada bord...
09/26/2026

FORT YORK in Toronto is a relic of the defence of Canada during the War of 1812. But the defence of the U.S.-Canada border continued to be a concern well after the end of that war.
Carl Benn, formerly Chief Curator of Toronto History Museums, now Professor of History at Toronto Metropolitan University, recalls this concern:

“The fact that Fort York was maintained so late in the nineteenth century partly overthrows the myth of the "undefended border" between Canada and the United States in the post-War of 1812 period. Even beyond the end of Fort York's defensive ca-pabilities, Canada faced the prospect of war with the United States as late as the Anglo-American clash over the Venezuelan boundary in 1896. There also was some worry over a military threat centred on the Alaska boundary dispute of 1903; in the 1920s, defence planners thought about how to defend the country should the United States invade at the behest of American industrialists wanting to secure access to Canadian raw materials.” [Carl Benn ‘Historic Fort York 1793-1993’ (Natural Heritage / Natural History Inc. 1993) pp 132-3]

Andrea Charron, Director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, University of Manitoba, considers the advantages of preparing for black swan events, the consequences of failing to prepare and the fact that preparation is rarely a waste of time and resources (“Canada must consider even unlikely threats including an American invasion” published in The Conversation, 24 Sept, 2026.):

“…Canada has a long history of planning for unlikely but consequential scenarios. During the period between the First and Second World Wars, Canadian military planners developed Defence Scheme No. 1, which considered the possibility of conflict with the U.S. American planners, for their part, developed War Plan Red — a scheme to invade Canada in the event of a war with the United Kingdom. Neither expected war, but both recognized the importance of understanding strategic options. During the Second World War, the United States-Canada Basic Defence Plan (referenced as the Black Plan) was penned by Canada to respond to a scenario should Germany defeat the U.K., leaving Canada and the U.S. vulnerable to the Axis powers.”

Illustration: 'Cold Comfort' by Toronto artist Charles Pachter, acrylic and pencil on canvas, 1983.

FORT YORK, like other fortifications dating to and just after the War of 1812, is a relic of the once-defended internati...
09/26/2026

FORT YORK, like other fortifications dating to and just after the War of 1812, is a relic of the once-defended international border, where defence is once again being considered:

“Canada must consider even unlikely threats including an American invasion” by Andrea Charron, Director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, University of Manitoba. (The Conversation, 24 Sept, 2026.)
https://theconversation.com/canada-must-consider-even-unlikely-threats-including-an-american-invasion-292866

"The fact that Fort York was maintained so late in the nineteenth century partly overthrows the myth of the "undefended border" between Canada and the United States in the post-War of 1812 period. Even beyond the end of Fort York's defensive capabilities, Canada faced the prospect of war with the United States as late as the Anglo-American clash over the Venezuelan boundary in 1896. There also was some worry over a military threat centred on the Alaska boundary dispute of 1903; in the 1920s, defence planners thought about how to defend the country should the United States invade at the behest of American industrialists wanting to secure access to Canadian raw materials." [Carl Benn ‘Historic Fort York 1793-1993’ (Natural Heritage / Natural History Inc. 1993) pp 132-3]

Illustration: 'Cold Comfort' by Toronto artist Charles Pachter.

Among exciting films featuring history and forts, "The Fortress" (currently on Netflix) is set in and around a vast Kore...
09/23/2026

Among exciting films featuring history and forts, "The Fortress" (currently on Netflix) is set in and around a vast Korean citadel city-fortress, where a major defensive action occurred in 1637 (roughly the era of the English Civil War), 150 years before the founding of York Garrison (Fort York). Like the Korean "South Han Mountain Fortress", which was designed as an emergency capital and seat of government, York Garrison included Government House to house the executive branch of government for Upper Canada. The defensive garrison, including Government House, was destroyed during the American attack of 1813. There the comparison to Korea ends! See the film -- it's great story.

From the UNESCO World Heritage site:
"Namhansanseong was designed as an emergency capital for the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), in a mountainous site 25 km south-east of Seoul. Built and defended by Buddhist monk-soldiers, it could accommodate 4,000 people and fulfilled important administrative and military functions. Its earliest remains date from the 7th century, but it was rebuilt several times, notably in the early 17th century in anticipation of an attack from the Sino-Manchu Qing dynasty. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1439/

Still from a trailer for 'The Fortress': https://fareastfilms.com/fef-news/trailer-the-fortress/

The threat of American annexation in the early 19th century led British North American colonies and provinces to confede...
09/16/2026

The threat of American annexation in the early 19th century led British North American colonies and provinces to confederate. The agreement among the colonies was hammered out over a week in 1864 here in Charlottetown's Colonial Building (today's Province House) with the help of $13,000 of ch*****ne. Province House (pictured), built in the 1840s, has just been restored by Parks Canada: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/pe/provincehouse From today's Globe and Mail story: "Something is stirring in Confederation’s crib"

Detail of a cartouche from the map "The Inhabited Part of Canada" (after Claude Joseph Sauthier) "...imagines a scene re...
09/06/2026

Detail of a cartouche from the map "The Inhabited Part of Canada" (after Claude Joseph Sauthier) "...imagines a scene related to the 'fur trade', as occurred at Toronto when merchants visited the region during the eighteenth century." From Carl Benn's chapter "Colonial Transformations" in the new edition of "Toronto: the First 13,000 Years, an Illustrated History" edited by Ronald F. Williamson (James Lorimer and Company, 2026). Carl Benn, author of "Historic Fort York: 1793-1993" and many other books, was curator of military and marine history for the Toronto Historical Board and now teaches history at Toronto Metropolitan University. (Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs)

See books for sale in the City of Toronto Museums Shop Shopify link, or visit the Museum Canteen Store at Fort York to b...
09/04/2026

See books for sale in the City of Toronto Museums Shop Shopify link, or visit the Museum Canteen Store at Fort York to browse the selection of history books, which includes Carl Benn's short history and guide to Fort York (2007). https://cityoftoronto.myshopify.com/collections/all-books

"To say the Trump administration are not free traders is not just understatement: it’s beside the point. They’re not eve...
08/26/2026

"To say the Trump administration are not free traders is not just understatement: it’s beside the point. They’re not even protectionists, really. Their objective is not to replace free trade with managed trade. It is to use tariffs as a weapon to advance their broader foreign policy objectives – namely, hemispheric domination." -- Andrew Coyne, 'The U.S. isn’t negotiating trade with Canada. This is a shakedown' in The Globe and Mail, 24 Aug., 2026

The device on the Upper Canada Preserved medal (pictured here), that was struck following the War of 1812, shows the American eagle (coloured orange, to match the moment, in this photo-illustration of the original medal), captures the 200-year-old act of U.S. aggression that all of Canada, and the rest of the world, is experiencing today.

A warm note of welcome for the Fort York Guard at this year's Field Day and Fife and Drum Muster, from Gavin Watt, Milit...
08/24/2026

A warm note of welcome for the Fort York Guard at this year's Field Day and Fife and Drum Muster, from Gavin Watt, Military/Education Coordinator at Fort George National Historic Site:

"We had a really good showing of infantry this year, with 6 groups – the 10th Royal Veterans Battalion, the guards from Fort Erie and Fort York and the return of Fort Malden after many years away. Fort York returned after a 6 year absence and had one of the most trying circumstances this year with FIFA world Cup celebrations preventing them from being at Fort York for the entirety of July. They trained offsite for most of that returning to Fort [York] in early August and only completing safety firing 5 days before the muster event here. The 3rd York militia (which was their military presentation) was really unique and a great tribute to the underrepresented militia presence that bolstered the British Line regiments’ numbers and efforts throughout the war of 1812, and the stylish civilian wear and fighting demeanor was really well represented by them. Kudos to the Fort York Guard for participating despite this year’s challenges, and hopefully this marks a consistent return to the Field Day - their presence has been missed and they have met the extreme problems of restarting a program after a 6 year hiatus, admirably."

Photo by Gavin Watt. The six members of the 3rd York Militia from Fort York are on the right with their sergeant, Fort York's Ewan Wardle, in the uniform of the Royal Veteran Battalion.

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250 Fort York Boulevard
Toronto, ON
M5V3K9

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